The Archives of a Professional: Maria Luisa Spineto, Civil Engineer and 'Thorough Designer'

In Italy in the 1950s, civil engineering was practiced almost entirely by men. Certainly is a singular case the professional affirmation of a woman who lived and worked in a hilly town with fewer than 5000 inhabitants, Arquata Scrivia in the province of Alessandria, on the slopes of the Ligurian Apennines and along the road link between Alessandria and Genova. Personal skills and reputation, familial and individual, surely contributed to the establishment of a mainly private, strong and loyal clientele, but also to the recognition of authority and competence that allowed her to lead the building-site, direct the workers, and interact with the contractors and the craftsmen that created technological elements, decorative details and complementary furnishings, on her drawings.